Appeals Court rules that Purdue Pharma’s explosive documents on marketing of OxyContin must be released

An appeals court has upheld a ruling ordering the release of previously records revealingPurdue Pharma’s marketing schemes for the potently addictive prescription opioid OxyContin. This drug is claimed to have ignited the opioid addiction epidemic which has lead to so many deaths. The records include a deposition ofRichard Sackler , a former president of Purdue and a member of the family that founded and controls the privately held Connecticut company. Others include marketing strategies and internal emails about them; internal analyses of clinical trials; settlement communications from an earlier criminal case regarding the marketing of OxyContin; and information regarding how sales representatives marketed the drug.

The Boston Globe publication STAT filed a motion two years ago to unseal the records — which were stored in a courthouse in a rural county in Kentucky. STAT won a lower court order in May 2016 to release the documents, but after Purdue appealed, the judge stayed that order.

The company has 30 days to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.